Appaloosa

Two gunmen are hired by the townspeople of Appaloosa. Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) have been bringing law to small towns for years, but this town offers a serious adversary for the two friends in the form of Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons).  Bragg is an wily adversary who runs a ranch just outside of town and feels his men should be allowed to do whatever they want while in Appaloosa.  Things become even more difficult when Allison French (Renee Zellweger) comes to town looking for work and starts to come between the two longstanding friends of Cole and Hitch.  This is one town where feelings can get you killed.  Run time: 116 minutes Rated R

This movie was a fantastic Western.  Everyone afore-mentioned gave great performances, but Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen, especially, provided characters to remember.  Now this one doesn’t go down into the great Westerns of all time (Tombstone, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Unforgiven, and Hondo); however, Appaloosa is a textbook Western/Cowboy movie.  The movie runs slow at some points and the movie is filled by the simplicity of cowboy wisdom. Those that don’t have the patience to sit through the story to get to the gunfights may get a little frustrated with the movie, but any true fan of the genre should put this one on the must-see list.  

Grade: B-